SVS will change your Home Theater life!!!!!

Can a sub really change your home theater life? Is it really worth it for me to spend my money on a new sub if I have older components? Will it really make a difference? Yesterday my cable man came over. He seemed to be a somewhat knowledgable cable guy. He mentioned to me that he was looking to upgrade his system, and thats when the show began. I popped in Matrix because I love the opening scene with trinity. When she jumps up that sub becomes a low rider. But something was wrong I was not feeling it. Then I put Swordfish in and listened to the explosion scene in the beginning of the movie and nothing. It sounded clean, detailed, but no bass. I came to find out that one of the spades got disconnected. Once I got it reconnected I tried The Matrix again. It is an experience that you will never trade in again. There is no subsitute for having a stupendous sounding sub such as my SVS 16-46+. I did have a sub before, it was the one that came with my 5.1 system thats 10years old. I have heard other subs such as the Klipsh, M&K 500, Definitive, and Polk. But for the price I believe SVS gets the top honors. If there are any skeptics out there you need not be. This is one investment you will never regret. I popped in Swordfish again and said to myself I will never watch a movie at home without my SVS. Do whatever you have to do to get one you will not regret it. Everytime I watch a movie it is a whole new experience. I can not emphasize the happiness you will recieve from this sub. It really moved me to write this review. I have had my SVS for about 3 or 4 months now. It is amazing, mated with my 950/770 combo it is just bliss. Now thats just the sub, which by the way is really big and beautiful. Now, I have had these moments 3, or 4, times since I had my sub where the thing just does not sound right or just does not work right. How would you like to get help from the person that made the thing? Not talking to some dumb operator or techie that can not understand your problem or does not know how to help you. Everytime I had a problem I got a response immediately. They are never to busy, always gracious, and never make you feel like your bothering them, although I do all the time. And the problems I had were always my own mistakes, never a malfunction of the sub. The customer service is top notched and I would definately buy another sub in a heartbeat. I really feel you will love the improvement this sub will make in your hometheater. Movies like U571, were actually hard on the body to feel at reference level. I really felt as though my living room was shaking apart. I felt if I kept it up I would implode my building. I have a small apartment and I live on the third floor. I am sure my neigbors hate me. I know there have been countless reviews and I am probably saying stuff you heard before. But when you get a SVS and listen to your movies I am sure you will be nothing less than moved to post your review. Thanks SVS for changing my home theater life.

Such talk will get you in trouble. Around here, comments like that border on heresy.

Plus, I think it's grossly unfair. I've listened extensively to SV subs (both their PC line and their Ultras), in several setups, and found them to be very good performers for music and HT. They really do make a fine product and offer some of the best customer service in the business. As far as appearances, I do agree with you. I also find cylinders to be unattractive. But hey, like you said, it's just an opinion.

Ok, I'm going to make a statement that may be unpopular, but it's true none the less.

Most people look at subs in a new light when they hear a quality product. This is mostly due to the fact that they've never experienced such clean bass in their homes before. But this can be said about many high quality subs, whether they're made by SVS, Hsu, Adire, Acoustic-Visions, etc. Everyone on HTF has their own opinions regarding whose implementation is best or who offers the best value. Make no mistake, the amount of actual sonic differences between these manufacturers' products is probably less than what most people can ever discern under most circumstances. They're all good, very good. But none of these makers has "reinvented the wheel". They're all simply using tried-and-true methods to reproduce quality sound in a home environment, nothing more.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm just so damned tired of hearing all the hyperbole regarding subs. If you choose any subwoofer(s) from one of the above listed manufacturers' you're going to be getting a great value. The only question left is whether you want a box or a tube. Finis.

I bought a 25-31 pci and it has NOT changed my home theater life. It's a good sub for the money no doubt, and the SVS guys are right there if you need them.

Reading all the rave reviews and praise (almost love) bestowed on these subs will cause many people to buy them---but---many people will take these rave reviews literally and of course be disappointed. Catch 22

Kenny does have a point. People read these reviews and get all jazzed, thinking that they're going to get car audio levels of bass in their homes. So they are definitely setting themselves up for disappointment. It doesn't matter just how great the sub is compared to other subs out there. Their expectations are overly inflated; not realizing that it's physically impossible to get 130+dB from single or dual 12" subs in a home environment.

So read the reviews and enjoy the excitement, but when it's time to click on the order button make sure you have a firm grasp on reality.

(I'm building the HT room as we speak). I've worked a deal for Klipsch RF3's with the local HT store.

The sub is the concern I have...

Even yesterday, I stopped into a midline audio store and sat in their sound room. The set up was Stallone's Driven on the screen, the chase scene going. AVR 520 was running a 5.1 set up on very good Polk Audio Speakers.

The Sub was a (Canadian Dollars) $900.00 Paradigm. It was set at the rear.

I was largely disappointed in this sub. It boomed, but it always sounded like someone was dropping a bomb over my left shoulder. To me, a sub should not be locatable in the viewing / listening experience.

I'm still on the quest...

-If the sub were more to the front, (as it should be), would that make it less locateable audiably?

-Will an SVS sub be virtually undetectable?

-Maybe I should purchase a couple of 8 to 10 subs instead?

The HT room isn't going to be big enough to support two SVS subs. I like my roof and my wife could never support that much of a cash outlay in the quest for perfect bass response.

Just curious, what sub(s) are you impressed with? Personally I demoed over 30 before going DIY and nothing I heard impressed me, especially for the $1-3k price tags.

I am not saying it sounded bad it just did not live up to the "hype" It is kind of like when your buddy says he is dating this hot chick and that's all he talks about. Then you see her and yeah she is good looking but far from being "all that"
I just expected to hear and feel some incredible bass, but what I heard was good bass.
Actually the sound kind of reminded me of back in college when some HS punk would pull up next to you in his Civic with bazooka bass tubes pumping out "doinky" sp? bass.
I am old car audiophile. I have two Orion 12" in a custom bandpass enclosure in my car. They hit exremely low and hard.
Any of these bass CD BASS
pound the heck out of you.
I have a budget HT set up.

I'm running Polk RT25i mains and surrounds with a Polk CS245i center and SVS 20-39CS+/S1000/ART-351. Even on bass sweeps across the crossover range (80Hz), I can't localize the sub. My old Polk PSW-350 sub in the same location really stood out with frequency sweeps and you could tell with your eyes closed when the sub started to take over the bass. My friend's Velodyne is the same way, and no amount of tweaking or placement has helped. With minimal tweaking, the SVS blends amazingly well with my other speakers. Track 3 of Jonatha Brooke's DVD-A Steady Pull has some very solid upright acoustic bass, and though I see the lights on the Samson lighting up to let me know the SVS is doing its job, the instrument still seems to come from the center channel as it should (albeit with some incredible sound that couldn't possibly be coming from that little Polk 245i!).

My friends who are into boomy car audio aren't blown away by the sound of the SVS. However, every musician I know has come away from my home theater with a goofy grin on their face. My stepdad plugged his bass guitar into the Samson just for kicks, and we couldn't tear him away from it. I'm not trying to tell anyone that this sub has changed my life, and frankly I still occasionally feel guilty for spending that much money on a subwoofer. When I tell friends what it cost me, they say "Are you out of your damned mind?" And then I fire up a disc... and they say "Wow... let's watch Fight Club!" Maybe it's not the greatest thing since sliced bread or some life-affirming experience... but at least with the SVS, I no longer feel the urge to upgrade THAT part of my HT. Mission accomplished, Ron and Tom!